Can you help me? This question remains as a recurring theme across Walz life from gangster to youth worker. Once he asked it - now others ask it of him.
Walz is a Student Support Youth worker at Alfriston College where he uses his skill and passion for skateboarding to teach kids science and life skills. He is also a solo Dad.
He was awarded the Youth Worker of the Year at the Manurewa Youth Workers Youth Awards 2015, but his life a few years before that was very different; one marked by drugs, alcohol and gangs … and of course skateboarding!
It took someone who saw the potential that lay deeper within in him than his anti-social behaviour, connected with a long held desire to be involved in designing a skate park that provided the impetus for him to turn his life around.
He says “I now realise how important people are and how I influenced the young ones. I’ve had kids come up saying they wanna be like me. I’m still not perfect but I’ve definitely changed my life around.”
This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at ted.com/tedx